Proposed ORV ordinance collides with good sense

Michael Eckert

No Name: "This is regarding the article about the county considering loosening restrictions on off-road vehicles. It's not specific about what the article meant by county roads. Do they just mean the paved roads? Or did they mean all the gravel roads out in the county?"

In general, the proposed ordinance would allow ORVs on all roads, paved and gravel, that are under the county's jurisdiction, except paved county roads that have speed limits of 45 mph or faster. They would not be allowed on state and federal highways or on streets under the jurisdiction of cities. The county road commission would be authorized to close other roads to ORVs for environmental and safety reasons.

No Name: "Well, I've now heard everything. Putting ORV four-wheelers or whatever they are, on the road with cars. You know, why don't you get wheelchairs on the road, too? This is stupid. Did you ever see some of these kids, the way they drive? I mean I watched a girl go down my subdivision street with a little kid sitting on the gas tank in front of her and they almost tipped the damn thing over. She went up on two wheels trying to turn real fast. No helmet, no nothing. Now you want to allow these things on the road?"

Will you be attending the public hearing on the proposed ordinance? It is 6 p.m. Aug. 7 at the county admin building, 200 Grand River Ave., Port Huron.

Bike-Rider from Fort Gratiot: "I ride my bike on the shoulder of Lakeshore Road, and that's dangerous as hell because there's so many driveways and people pulling out, looking for cars and not people on bikes. So it's going to be the same thing with these ORVs. At 25, 30 miles an hour it's a big difference, and there's so many driveways on Lakeshore Road. It would just be super dangerous."

They wouldn't be allowed on M-25.

Ken from Port Huron: "Hey, I with much interest read the article from the county clerk, Mr. Deboyer. I was trying to look back in the Times Herald archives and different things like that. Didn't the county clerk reject language for a petition? If Times Herald has any of that information I think the public should know."

No. While many complained, nobody ever actually got up off the sofa long enough to initiate a petition calling for a referendum on the convention center borrowing. If you remember a petition, it was the tin-foil-hat scheme to keep St. Clair County from joining the I-69 trade corridor that Jay DeBoyer properly called silly.

No Name: "Kudos to DeBoyer for his intelligent perceptive response about the referendum. That candidate that made those statements really is guilty of fraud, in my opinion. And DeBoyer sounds like the most intelligent perceptive mature person we've had in that position for many, many years."

Marysville Resident: "Concerning the Art Van property, why couldn't that new bus terminal be built there? Instead of taking half of the McMorran parking place? Which is very necessary. Think about it."